5 Life Sentences, 25 Years Later

The Center for Justice Reform invites you to join us for this special event Wednesday April 19th with guest speakers Howard Zehr, Barbara Toews, and John “Freddie” Nole. This event will feature both an in person art exhibit as well as a virtual panel disc

Center for Justice Reform and Vermont Law School

by Howard Zehr and Barb Toews

The Center for Justice Reform invites you to join us for this special event Wednesday April 19th with guest speakers Howard Zehr, Barbara Toews, and John “Freddie” Nole. This event will feature both an in person art exhibit as well as a virtual panel discussion with Howard, Barbara, and Freddie to share personal stories and experiences related to this art/book project. Still Doing Life: 22 Lifers, 25 Years Later is a publication and an art exhibition by Howard Zehr and Barb Toews consisting of 22 interviews and pairs of photographs taken 25 years apart of individuals serving life without the possibility of parole sentences in Pennsylvania prisons. This is one of many other significant pieces of work that Howard Zehr and Barbara Toews have contributed within the field of Restorative Justice.

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The Center for Restorative Practices: Reimagining Justice

Center for Restorative Practices


The Amherst Student newspaper wrote an article on the Center for Restorative Practices sharing its mission, vision, and goals. The article's byline notes- "Founded in 2021, the Center for Restorative Practices is drawing from long-established Indigenous practices to create a contemporary space for redressing community divides, repairing relationships, and reflecting on Amherst’s model of punitive justice."

Foundational Restorative Justice for K-12 Education

RJ for K-12
Training information:

Restorative practices offers a robust framework for supporting both students and staff through communities of care. In this training, you will gain a comprehensive understanding of restorative justice for K-12 schools and the alignment with multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).

tinyurl.com/K126week

In this transformative training, you'll gain:

  • an understanding of restorative principles and practices
  • design applications of RJ ranging form the classroom to administration
  • develop facilitation skills, receive guidance about program implementation
  • and gain insight achieved through an intense, intellectual, emotional, and spiritually uplifting restorative experience. 

Certificate in Restorative Justice Facilitation and Leadership

Certificate
Information Session

Wednesday, April 6th, 2022, 4:30 - 5:30 pm EST

tinyurl.com/RJCertificateInfoSession

Coursework:

(1) Introduction to Restorative Justice: A Global Social Movement

(2) Restorative Justice Facilitation & Skill Building Intensive

(3) Restorative Justice in Practice

Program Details- Total Units:9

Time to Complete- One year

 

The Power of Forgiveness: A Story of Harm, Healing, and Relationship

A Story of Harm, Healing, and Relationship
Vermont Law Schools' Center for Justice Reform is hosting a virtual event titled, “The Power of Forgiveness: A Story of Harm, Healing, and Relationship” on March 17th at 12:00 EST. This event will be featuring a live discussion with special guests Tom Morgan, Jason Samuel, Christy Morgan, and Martina Lutz Schneider who were all featured in CNN’s Redemption Project film series in 2017 through their involvement with a Victim-Offender Dialogue (VOD) process.  At the time of this film, Jason Samuel was still serving his remaining two years at San Quentin State Prison in California for the shooting of Officer Tom Morgan in 1997. The Victim-Offender Dialogue process that occurred came as a request from Tom Morgan, and required years of preparation for both Tom and his wife Christy. This process was facilitated by Martina Lutz Schneider, who worked with all parties individually before supporting the process coming together that is captured in the film.

The significance of this story is difficult to capture in a brief summary, but the impact is profound. Jason was released on parole in 2019, and since then has continued to stay in close relationship with both Tom and Christy. The three of them have done several events together since the time the Redemption Project film was released, but the story of how their relationship has continued to deepen and grow these last several years has still largely been untold. The three of them hope that this event has the opportunity to reach a wider audience, so that the story of their relationship can serve as an example to the power of forgiveness and healing.

Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship

Fellowship
A unique opportunity for students of color – the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship -  a full scholarship to study abroad this summer.

This year’s cohort is once again co-sponsored by Ireland’s Department of Foreign Affairs, to commemorate the anniversary of Douglass’s first journey abroad to Ireland. Participants will be based in Dublin and visit other cities where Douglass campaigned against slavery, while meeting with government leaders and social justice activists.

Eligibility Requirements

We invite applications from 1st, 2nd or 3rd year students, with a GPA of 3.0 or above, from ethnic backgrounds typically underrepresented on study abroad programs. The application is online and due on February 14, Frederick Douglass’s birthday.

As part of our commitment to expanding access to an international education, CIEE offers a $1500 Frederick Douglass Scholars Grant towards any in-person CIEE summer 2022, fall 2022 or spring 2023 program to all applicants who submit an application and meet all eligibility requirements but are not selected for the Fellowship. Additionally, Pell grant recipients can receive a $500 travel grant for airfare.

Nonviolent Communication Intensive in Allyship

Nonviolent Communication Intensive for AllyshipAre you someone who wishes that you had the skills and tools to show up as an effective ally? Does fear of making a mistake or saying the wrong thing keep you paralyzed from being an effective advocate? Are you ready to be challenged to strengthen your emotional literacy so that marginalized people can give you feedback, unfiltered?

This 10-week intensive will immerse participants in Nonviolent Communication theory and practice with the goal to strengthen advocacy and allyship skills. Participants will identify their social location in US social systems to practice transforming their relationship to conflict and power.

This course is for anyone who is ready to learn how to transform fear, paralysis, and defensiveness into actionable empathic listening and allyship in their everyday lives.

This is a 10-week online class using the Zoom platform.  Sundays: Feb 20, 27, March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 17, 24, 1-3 pm CST